I'm not speeding, I'm QUALIFYING!

It's that time of year again! NASCAR weeklong preseason is off and running. The fantasy league picks are made and, this Sunday, the real deal begins. Yes... I'm a bit excited about it all; who isn't?! Okay, I know, some of you aren't as enthused as me but I appreciate that you respect and generally forgive this preoccupation of mine.

I did spend some time this weekend watching the coverage of the Bud Shootout and qualifying for the front row of the upcoming Daytona 500. The Shootout was a nice warmup and preview of some of the issues drivers will be dealing with this year. Today's qualifying put Ricky Rudd, one of my drivers, on the front row (that's him in the chocolate brown uniform in the left of the photo collage.) I'm celebrating that today because, come race day, the front row isn't often where the winner starts.

Fortunately, this year, none of my drivers are in trouble with the officials ... at least not yet. Three of the fantasy league drivers did have their times disqualified due to one infraction or another. Michael Waltrip's car was even confiscated! Evidently the grey area they were exploring was a little more black and white than they initially thought. Ah well, that's part of the NASCAR experience anyway. It's gonna be a good year!

For those who wish to follow my picks this year, I'm starting the year with #48 Jimmie Johnson, #5 Kyle Busch, #31 Jeff Burton, and #88 Ricky Rudd.